On the eve of a report on a legislative panel's abuse-of-power investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, campaign officials released their own report clearing her of any wrongdoing.Palin, running mate to Republican presidential nominee John McCain, is the subject of two inquiries into whether she abused her power by firing her public safety commissioner. The commissioner says he was dismissed for resisting pressure to fire Palin's former brother-in-law, a state trooper.Lawmakers are expected to release their findings Friday....

I don't understand the headline. Of course her own campaign is going to declare her innocent of anything, as long as they've got any chance of plausibility. That's not "pre-empting" or "clearing" herself except in the sense that any declaration of innocence is.

The "campaign officials released their own report" statement suggests that they released a detailed description of the situation (as they see it), not simply a declaration of innocence. The "pre-empts" description, from what I've followed of the story, arises from Palin's claim that the legislature has no authority to investigate (shades of the "unitary executive" concept).